Beyond Civilization Study Guide
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Beyond Civilization Study Guide Copyright © 2019 New Tribal Ventures, Inc. www. ISHMAEL .org Introduction There are two guides to accompany Beyond Civilization – One is a short Reading Group Guide written by Daniel for use in small discussion groups and book club groups. The other is this more extensive Study Guide designed for use by teachers or home-schoolers. This Study Guide is arranged in 37 units, each unit forming an “umbrella” topic that includes several of the related essays in BC. It offers suggestions for other activities as well as discussion questions and is free for non- commercial educational use. Preface UNIT 21 Not Just the Same Old Battles UNIT 1 Defining the Task and the Terms UNIT 22 The Open Tribe UNIT 2 “Old Minds,” “New Minds,” and Programs UNIT 23 Becoming Less Harmful UNIT 3 Vision and “The Invisibility of Success” UNIT 24 The Food Race and Beyond UNIT 4 Vision and “The Invisibility of Success” UNIT 25 Reluctant Pioneers UNIT 5 Genes and Memes UNIT 26 Acceding to Homelessness UNIT 6 Survival Machines UNIT 27 Accedence, Pro and Con UNIT 7 The Best Way To Live UNIT 28 An Inadvertent Tribe UNIT 8 The Meme in the New World UNIT 29 The Occupational Tribe UNIT 9 Vanished Peoples UNIT 30 Tribal Goals UNIT 10 Lost Civilizations and Missing Memes UNIT 31 Tribes and Other Communities UNIT 11 Pyramid Builders UNIT 32 Tribes and Communes UNIT 12 Lifestyle, Social Organization, and Culture UNIT 33 Other Tribal Enterprises UNIT 13 Tribalism the Workable UNIT 34 Our Unsustainable Society UNIT 14 A Modern Tribal Form UNIT 35 A New Way To Go UNIT 15 From Tribalism to Hierarchalism UNIT 36 No One Right Way UNIT 16 Dealing with the Hierarchy UNIT 37 The Beginning UNIT 17 Civilization: Who Likes It? Appendix 1 Schools UNIT 18 Experiments and Alternatives Appendix 2 Courses UNIT 19 Standards of Living Copyrigh t Notice UNIT 20 A Different Sort of Revolution Preface When I first began struggling with the material in Beyond Civilization, I tried to organize it in what might be called the usual way–as one long, continuous argument, beginning at A and ending at Z. The result was like a very dense weaving of ideas, facts, theories, assertions, and explanations (so dense as to be nearly opaque)–nothing I would want to read or to write. Finally I came up with an entirely new approach, which consisted of providing the materials in small, discrete chunks and letting the reader do the weaving. Remarkably enough, the result was a text that early readers consider amazingly lucid and “easy to read.” As a side benefit, this approach also produced a text I believe to be ideally suited to the classroom. I’m no classroom teacher–I wouldn’t have a clue how to go about teaching my novel Ishmael, for example–but I feel sure that even I could teach this book. Some teachers will want to deal with Beyond Civilization in conceptual units consisting of several pages (as presented here), but it doesn’t have to be dealt with that way. A page can be squeezed in anywhere, anytime, and make sense as a separate unit. There’s not even any necessity to “finish” the book (unlike a novel, which must be “finished” at all costs). Three minutes of reading or listening and you’re ready to start a discussion that will be valuable whether it lasts ten minutes or two hours. One thing I’ve learned in visiting classrooms is that 12-year-olds ask the exact same questions and express the exact same anxieties and concerns as 20-year-olds. Grade-leveling is all but meaningless when it comes to the subjects and issues explored in my books, including this one. For this reason, I’ve made no effort to grade-level the activities and discussion questions offered here. Some may be too easy for older students–but few, I think, will be too hard for younger ones. Daniel Quinn UNIT 1 Defining the task and the terms A fable to start with · A Manual of Change · Who are the people of “our culture”? · What does “saving the world” mean? What terrestrial animals live in packs, pods, flocks, troops, herds, and so on? How closely does the fabled hierarchical society match our own? How would our leaders respond to the challenge posed by “the masses” in this fable? Do you agree “there’s nothing the people of our culture want more than change”? In 1999, not long after the Columbine Massacre, a law was passed in Louisiana requiring public- school students to address teachers and other school employees as “ma’am” or “sir” and to use the appropriate title of Mr., Miss, Ms., or Mrs. with their names. What “problem” did this legislative change address? If you own a fishing boat, the fish you catch are free for the taking. What are the stages by which the fish you catch are turned into food under lock and key? The text says that some 200 species a day are becoming extinct, thanks to us. Have students start three lists, one of species they think might one day disappear entirely (except for zoo specimens), one of species that are very unlikely to disappear in the near future, and one of species that will probably survive even if we don’t. As the lists grow, see what generalizations students can make about them. (For example, the first list is going to include large-bodied creatures that are not deemed essential to human survival–gorillas, rhinos, whales, and so on; the second is going to include creatures we like and need–domesticated cats, dogs, rice, cows, and chickens, and so on.) UNIT 2 “Old Minds,” “New Minds,” and Programs Old minds with new programs · New minds with no programs · No programs at all? · If not programs, then what? Do you care whether there are still people around here in a thousand years? In a hundred years? Fifty years? Quinn says programs never achieve the things they’re created to achieve. Can you think of any exceptions? The Manhattan Project and the Apollo Project both reached their goals. What’s the difference between a project and a program? [Projects have clearly defined goals.] Following the 1999 Columbine massacre, Attorney General Janet Reno said, “Let us take that tragedy and do everything we can to prevent it in the future.” Does her statement reflect an old mind at work or a new mind? Have students collect and discuss examples of “Old” and “New” thinking clipped from newspapers or magazines. Quinn gives several examples of people following the principle “If it didn’t work last year, let’s do MORE of it this year.” Drawing on your own experience, think of some other examples. Have students list programs at work in your school or community and then define what unwanted behavior or activity they’re designed to stop or control. Then have them assess their effectiveness. Pick a topic of concern (say, school security) and appoint two teams to discuss it. Have Team A discuss it as a matter of “stopping bad things,” then have Team B discuss it as a matter of “making things the way we want them to be.” Then have the teams switch roles and continue the discussion. UNIT 3 Vision and “The Invisibility of Success” The invisibility of success · The invisibility of tribal success · Conspicuous success, invisible source · Vision is like gravity · The spread of vision · Vision: success without programs Bring some bubble wrap to class, start popping bubbles, and ask the class what they’re seeing. Someone will probably suggest that they’re seeing a law (more advanced students might recognize it as Boyle’s Law). Lead them to realize that what they’re seeing is a phenomenon, not a law. This can be demonstrated pretty conclusively by writing Boyle’s Law on the board. Have students find other examples of laws that demonstrate “the invisibility of success.” As each bird in a flock of geese flaps its wings, it creates an “uplift” for the bird following. It’s estimated that, by flying in a V formation, the whole flock has 70 percent more flying range than if each bird flew alone. Discuss this as an example of “success” and have students look for other examples. What are the invisible sources of the conspicuous success of the internet? Of extreme sports? The Women’s Suffrage movement is an example of “vision at work.” What vision and spreading mechanism were at work there? Have students find and analyze other examples. [Such as the hippie movement of the 1960s.] How do advertising campaigns operate like spreading mechanisms? What vision was propagated by Joe the Camel or the Budweiser lizards (or current equivalents)? Discuss clothing fads as an instance of “success without programs.” What’s the spreading mechanism? Do different fads express different visions? UNIT 4 Vision and “The Invisibility of Success” When the vision turns ugly · Programs aren’t wicked, just inadequate · But how could we get along without programs? · But how will we live then? · How can we achieve a vision we can’t imagine? “No unwanted behavior has ever been eliminated by passing a law against it” is a pretty sweeping statement. Can you think of any exceptions? Quinn thinks we can’t “win” just by defending the environment. Why does he believe this? Do you agree? As the basis for a paper or research project, have students find examples of products that have come to be the way we know them because a series of individuals have “improved on something, then put it out there for others to improve on.” According to Quinn, people imagine that our distant descendants will have different gadgets and wear different clothes but will think just the way we do.